Village Residents Party

Brookville, Long Island, New York

The Village Residents Party, founded in 1992,
serves Brookville, Upper Brookville, Old Brookville and part of Old
Westbury. The VRP is a privately-funded Political Action Committee
(PAC) that is registered with the State of New York.

The
Village Residents Party has always considered the institutions that
are located within our villages to be some of the key factors in
determining the quality of life in our area. When they are well run
and given proper oversight, they can be great assets. When that is
not the case, they can be great liabilities. Thus, we have devoted
much of our energies to monitoring the process of local government
oversight of these institutions. When
the local governments do not adequately carry out their
responsibilities, we inform you, the voting residents, of our
findings and our recommendations. Our recommendations revolve around
political actions that we ask you, the voters, to take.

Post College / Long Island University

One of our primary concerns, for many years, has
been Post/LIU's unquenchable thirst for the unbridled construction
and development of its several-hundred acre campus. Whether it is an
enclosed horseback riding area, a hockey
arena, a gymnasium or some other project, Post/LIU seems to be
constantly in line to get one project after another through the
village-level permit process. We are not flatly opposed to any and
all construction at Post/LIU; what we oppose is the excessive
over-development of its campus in ways that do not relate to
Post/LIU's ostensible, academic functions. You will recall that many
of our past complaints centered around detrimental externalities
(neighborhood effects), breached agreements, and discrepancies in
Post/LIU's own statements and assurances. Nevertheless, they remain
unwilling to enter into good faith negotiations with community
organizations.

We have proposed the
formation of a joint committee that would include representatives
from Post/LIU and the various community-based organizations. However,
Dr. Steinberg continues to resist our call for the formation of any
community relations group. Perhaps a few more calls, letters and
faxes from the community could change his mind.

This campus is
partly in Old Westbury and partly in Brookville. Old Westbury has
been fairly stringent in its application of local zoning ordinances.
Brookville has been fairly lax. Most of Post/LIU's proposals for
construction have been in the Incorporated Village of Brookville
(coincidence?). Of course, all of our villages are affected by the
activities and expansion plans of Post/LIU. We maintain an archive of
correspondence that relates to these
projects.

LIU
maintains a community relations page on its web site. It contains
very little information that would be of any use in the present
context. Nonetheless, you may want to make a note of it for future
reference.

Underhill property

As you may have noticed in all of the newspaper
articles and direct mailings, this issue is primarily a political
one. In most discussions of this issue, some minor concessions are
made to the legalities of the court case, but, by and large, the
final decisions will be made (or at least, implemented) by elected
officials in response to constituent pressures. This is an area where
an organization like the VRP (a registered political action
committee) can have its greatest impact. When you contact town-level
officials, be sure to mention the VRP to them. Tell them that you
support the VRP. Tell them that when election time arrives, you will
give very serious consideration to the VRP's recommendations
regarding your vote and your financial support for an insurgent
candidate, should the incumbents fail to give adequate consideration
to the views of their constituents. They know that our villages are
not very populous, but your financial support of their opponents is
something that they would fear more than just losing a few hundred
votes.

Village Governments

The Boards of Trustees of the Incorporated
Villages generally meet once per month, except for the summer months.
You can call or write the Village Clerk of your village for the exact
date, time and location of the next meeting. Village Board meetings
are free and open to the public. The Village Residents Party urges
all residents to attend as often as possible.

At the present time, the VRP has not taken a
position on the withdrawal of the Village of Muttontown from the OBPD
coverage area or on the reorganization that may result from that
move. Nevertheless, as a courtesy to the residents, we will make
available an archive of documents related to the OBPD. Note also that
the archived meeting notes from the
Village of Brookville Board of Trustees include the monthly
report of a member of the Board of Police Commissioners.